TVNZ

Television New Zealand, often called TVNZ, is a state-owned media company in New Zealand. It runs television channels, a streaming service, and a news service that people can watch across New Zealand and some parts of the Pacific. All of its channels are free to watch and make money from advertisements.

TVNZ started in February 1980 when two government television networks, Television One (now TVNZ 1) and South Pacific Television (now TVNZ 2), joined together. It was the only television broadcaster in New Zealand until November 1989 when a private channel called TV3, now known as Three, began.

TVNZ runs its channels from a studio in Auckland and uses special networks to send its shows to viewers. It also has an online service called TVNZ+. Over the years, TVNZ has had many channels, but some of them have stopped, like TVNZ Kidzone, which closed in 2016.

Even though TVNZ is owned by the government, it does not get direct money from taxpayers. Instead, it operates like a business. There has often been discussion about whether TVNZ should act more like a public service or just a regular commercial network. Right now, it runs as a fully commercial business.

History

TVNZ was created in February 1980 by merging Television One and South Pacific Television, which was renamed TV2. Until 1989, it was also connected with Radio New Zealand.

In the 1980s, TVNZ moved its operations from Lower Hutt to Auckland. By 1988, it became a profit-driven state-owned company. In 1989, New Zealand's broadcasting was opened up to private companies, and Radio New Zealand became separate from TVNZ.

TVNZ has changed a lot over the years. In the early 2000s, it made agreements with Channel 4 and The Walt Disney Company for programmes. In 2003, it became a Crown entity, meaning it had to balance making money with providing public service content.

In 2006, TVNZ planned to start new digital channels, one for news and another for families and children. By 2013, TVNZ went fully digital. In 2024 and 2026, TVNZ faced money problems and proposed cutting some programmes and jobs. They also planned to save money by changing how they deliver news online and focusing more on their streaming service.

Governance

The TVNZ Board guides Television New Zealand. It is chosen by the Minister of Broadcasting and Media. As of August 2017, the board members included Dame Therese Walsh, Andy Coupe, Abby Foote, Cameron Harland, Toko Kapea, Kevin Malloy, Julia Raue, and Susan Turner.

In 2002, the government created a "TVNZ Charter" to help TVNZ show many types of New Zealand-made shows, including news, drama, and documentaries. In 2008, TVNZ started two channels without ads, TVNZ 6 and TVNZ 7. However, these channels closed in 2011 and 2012. Their shows were moved to TVNZ Heartland and TVNZ Kidzone24, which need a special TV service to watch. In 2011, the government removed the Charter, which some people did not agree with.

Channels

TVNZ 1

TVNZ 1 is the main channel of TVNZ. It started on 1 June 1960 and shows many types of shows like news, sports, food, dramas, and comedies. Its news is called 1News and its sports news is 1 Sport. TVNZ 1 also shows shows about farming life, Māori culture, and news in the Māori language.

TVNZ 2

TVNZ 2 started on 30 June 1975 and is made for a younger audience. It shows dramas, sitcoms, comedies, kids' shows, and reality shows. Some popular shows include Shortland Street, Motorway Patrol, and What Now. It also shows international shows like The Big Bang Theory and The Walking Dead. TVNZ calls this channel the "home of entertainment".

TVNZ Duke

TVNZ Duke began on 20 March 2016. It shows shows for a male audience with comedy, drama, and factual series. Some shows include Two and a Half Men, Everybody Hates Chris, and River Monsters. It also shows sports events like the Men's and Women's Hockey Pro Leagues and the Dream11 Super Smash cricket tournament.

Timeshift channels

TVNZ has timeshift channels that show its three main channels with a one-hour delay. TVNZ 1+1 started on 1 July 2012, TVNZ 2+1 started on 1 September 2013, and TVNZ Duke+1 started on 17 November 2020.

Other services

TVNZ has helped provide television services in Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands. While TVNZ provides much of the programming, scheduling and continuity are done locally.

The TVNZ Archive contains over 600,000 hours of television spanning almost 55 years of New Zealand's public television history. This includes documentaries, dramas, sports programmes, and every TVNZ news broadcast from December 1986 to 2014. In 2014, guardianship of the archive was transferred to the Crown to ensure its proper preservation and online availability.

TVNZ+ is Television New Zealand's on-demand streaming platform. It was launched on 20 March 2007 and is available on various devices including PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, FreeviewPlus, iOS, Android, Xbox One, and Windows 10. The service uses geotargeting for New Zealand connections only, with some content also available internationally via YouTube.

TVNZ began a teletext service in 1984 to help New Zealand's deaf community access news and information. This service closed in April 2013 due to declining use, but captioning continues to be available.

TVNZ previously operated several services that are now discontinued, including regional TV stations under the 'Horizon Pacific' name, a satellite services division, and digital channels such as TVNZ 6, TVNZ 7, U, and TVNZ Heartland. These services were replaced by other channels or closed down over the years.

Main article: Television New Zealand Archive

Transmission network

High Definition

TVNZ began broadcasting in High Definition in July/August 2008 during the 2008 Summer Olympics. This service uses the Freeview|HD platform and the DVB-T transmission method. Only TV One and TV2 are available in HD, and most shows are still converted from Standard Definition. Starting July 1, 2009, Sky TV subscribers with MySky HDi decoders could watch the HD versions of TV One and TV2. While the content is the same as the Standard Definition versions, certain High Definition shows display an HD logo next to the channel logo.

TVNZ uses 1080i as their HD broadcast format.

Kordia, formerly BCL, TVNZ's transmission partner

TVNZ's transmission network is run by Kordia, which used to be called Broadcast Communications Limited and was a part of TVNZ until 2006. Kordia manages the network that broadcasts major television channels in New Zealand, including Discovery New Zealand and Sky Open, as well as providing other communication services.

Geographic history

TVNZ's main channel, TV One, has four different feeds for viewers in and around Auckland, Waikato, Wellington, and Christchurch. In 2010, localized satellite feeds became available for SD receivers. These feeds mostly only include regional ads at the end of commercial breaks. Regional news programming stopped in the late 1980s, and TV2 regional versions stopped in the early 2000s.

Before TVNZ, NZBC had separate stations in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin. Nationwide broadcasting began in July 1969 to show the Apollo 11 landing, but the network wasn't complete yet. It was fully finished by November that year.

The network used microwave links connecting major transmitters with repeaters. In 1985, the network stretched from Northland to Otago, covering many areas. Broadcast relay stations helped serve places not on the main network.

TVNZ used to hold telethons around the country until 1990. When TV One and TV2 started on Sky Digital in 2001, viewers only saw nationwide or Auckland ads. In 2004, this changed to show ads for Auckland, Wellington, or Christchurch, but this stopped in 2007 and returned through Freeview SD. Regional ads are only on TV One, and HD viewers only see Auckland ads.

Many TV productions moved from Wellington to Auckland. In Christchurch, TVNZ's old studios were damaged in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and later demolished. The Dunedin studios, which made famous shows, were bought by Ian Taylor in 1989.

DVB-S availability

TV One, TV2, and their hour-delayed versions are available in standard definition over DVB-S on Optus D1 without needing a Sky box. However, HD versions on DVB-S2 need a Sky Television H.264 box like MySky.

Civil Defence

TVNZ must follow lifeline utility rules under New Zealand civil defence laws. This means TVNZ needs to keep working, even in emergencies, and give advice to civil defence groups when asked.

Details prior to December 2013 digital switchover

Technical notes

New Zealand uses PAL B (7 MHz channel spacing) on VHF, and PAL G (8 MHz channel spacing) on UHF.

• Australia also uses PAL B on VHF, but frequencies differ.
• Australia uses PAL B (7 MHz) on UHF, so many UHF channels have different frequencies.
• For stereo sound, New Zealand uses NICAM with a special offset, while Australia uses the European offset for A2 Stereo. NICAM, being digital, can lose signal more easily over distance or interference.
• Because of these differences, some Australian TVs in New Zealand can only hear mono sound, and many VHF channels might not work well or at all.
• TVNZ uses more VHF frequencies than any other network in New Zealand.

NICAM stereo

New Zealand widely uses NICAM stereo sound for TV One and TV2. NICAM stereo started on TV2 in Auckland in 1989 and later came to other areas and TV One by 1996, with some places like Southland getting it in 2001. Competitor Three has offered NICAM stereo since 1989, as has Prime TV. Stereo sound is available on all TVNZ channels through Sky Digital or Freeview.

Visual identity

In 1980, TVNZ began with a logo featuring four red stars overlapping, with the name below. By 1982, the logo changed to four four-pointed stars forming an octagon shape in red and blue. Over the years, the logo evolved many times — in 1994 it used the letters TVNZ in purple, red, green, and light blue; by 2004 it had a futuristic font with TV in black and NZ in light teal; and since 2016, the logo shows a blue spiral with the letters TVNZ in a lowercase style.

Competitors

TVNZ has some big rivals in the TV world. One of these is Sky Free, which has channels like Three, Bravo, Eden, Rush, and Sky Open. Another rival is Whakaata Māori, also known as Māori Television. These channels all compete to provide different kinds of TV shows and programs for New Zealand viewers.

New Zealand shows

Main article: List of programmes broadcast by TVNZ

TVNZ shows many programs made in New Zealand. These shows are fun to watch and tell stories about life in New Zealand. You can find many of these programs on TVNZ's channels and online services.

Controversies

TVNZ has faced several debates and discussions over the years about whether it should act more like a public service or a commercial business. Some of these moments caused public discussion.

In 1996, a legal case involving TVNZ was decided in court. In 1999, a news presenter changed for a short time before returning to his old role.

In 2000, TVNZ was corrected by officials for mistakes in a news story. In 2004, a well-known TV personality made a rude comment on the radio and later decided to leave TVNZ. That same year, there was talk about how much another newsreader was paid.

In 2010, a TV host made some very rude comments that upset many people, leading him to leave the station.

In 2021, a company disagreed with how TVNZ reported certain issues and took legal action, but the case was later dismissed. In 2023, another person disagreed with how TVNZ talked about them and also took legal action, but this case was also dismissed later.